Closure means for washing machine



May 3, 1960 Filed Aug. 11, 1958 F. A. GERLACH CLOSURE MEANS FOR WASHINGMACHINE 2 Sheets-Shet 1 May 3, 1960 Filed Aug. 11, 1958 F. A. GERLACH2,934,927

CLOSURE MEANS FOR WASHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZIP INVENTOR. FRANKA. GEPLACH ATTOENEYS CLOSURE MEANS FOR WASHING MACHINE Frank A. Gerlach,(Iincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The American Laundry Machinery Company,Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ghio Application August 11,1958,Serial No. 754,438

Claims. (Cl. 68-143) The invention relates to novel and improved closuremeans for a commercial washing machine, and the invention is especiallyadvantageously adapted for use with the type of washing machine having arelatively large work-holding cylinder which is rotatable within a fixedtub, casing or housing. The cylinder has foraminous or perforate wallportions, to provide access of the washing or cleaning liquid to thework, and the tub, casing, or housing retains the liquid at apreselected level with respect to the location of the cylinder.

To avoid confusion in an understanding of the following description Iwill use the term cylinder in referring to the inner, movable,work-containing element, and the term casing in referring to the outershell, housing or tub which is fixed, and which holds the processingliquid, usually a soapy detergent, or a hydrocarbon'type solvent. Thetype of cylinder door now to be disclosed is usable in the machinesknown in the art as washers, and also washer extractors, and otheradvantageous applications of the invention will be familiar to thoseskilled in the commercial laundry art.

Cylinders such as those comprised herein are usually divided intocompartments by either one or more vertical partitions transverse to theaxis of rotation, and/or one or more horizontal partitions usually onplanes coincident with the axis of rotation. Each compartment of coursemust be provided with a door for loading and unloading. and the door foreach compartment must be registrable with a door or opening in thecasing. Automatic control means is sometimes provided for either theaccurate registration of both doors when the cylinder is stopped, or forconvenient inching of the doors to registration. The cylinder door ordoors may sometimes be located in the peripheral wall, but a door ordoors in the cylindrical end wall is frequently used, especially in themulti-compartment type of cylinder having partitions dividing thecylinder, or a part thereof, into sectors of, for example, 120 degreesor 180 degrees. The 120 degree type is rather common, having threepartitions arranged in a Y, the compartments being conveniently loadedor unloaded through a small end door in the compartment end wall. Eachcompartment door, as previously indicated, is successively registrablewith a door in the end of the casing. An extra-large laundryWasherextractor of the Y type will be hereinafter described as oneembodiment of the present invention.

My novel door arrangement was devised especially to meet the problemsencountered with a large cylinder having a diameter of around six feet.With the usual door arrangements this size of cylinder is difficult tounload, requiring the operator to reach far down and back into thecompartment. An arrangement commonly used prior to this inventionarranges one leg of the Y-partition in a horizontal position at one sideof a vertical center line through the center of extractor when thedevice is in loading and unloading position. The compartment on theopposite side of the vertical center line is then in position to beloaded or unloaded. In this position the two 2,934,927 Patented Mays,1960 partitions defining this compartment slope respectively upward anddownward away from the axis of the cylinder, and a centrally locatedrectangular door in the end wall of the compartment has its hinge in avertical plane. This arrangement is satisfactory in some machines butwhen the cylinder has a diameter of six feet, for instance, as disclosedherein, the operator has difiiculty in reaching far down and back intothe compartment in unloading clothes therefrom. In the improvedform ofdoor arrangement I have devised, the loading and unloading position isat one side of a vertical central plane through the cylinder, above ahorizontal central plane. The bottom partition of the compartment to beloaded or unloaded is aligned with the bottom edge of the casingopening, on a horizontal line, and preferably on a central plane throughthe rotational axis.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved doorarrangement which greatly facilitates loading and unloading of acompartment in a cylinder of the nature described.

A further object of the invention is to provide a compartment door intwo parts, a first part hinged on an axis which is vertical when thecylinder isstopped in unloading position, and a second part hinged on anaxis which is horizontal when the cylinder is in the same position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door of the natureindicated in the last preceding paragraph in which the first part is amain door and the second part partially overlies the first part andassists in securing it in position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door of the natureindicated in the last two preceding paragraphs in which the hinge axisfor the said second door part lies substantially in the plane of acompartment partition which constitutes the compartment floor inunloading position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fitted two-part doorof the character indicated in the last three preceding paragraphs whichthe door is substantially sector-shaped in contour having terminalradially extending edges at approximately a ninety degree divergence.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a study of thefollowing specification, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,in which:

Fig. 1 is an end elevational view of a cylinder fitted with a two-partdoor embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a washerextractor withcasing and cylinder doors open.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views taken on the respective sectionlines 33, 4-4 and 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the section line 66 of Fig. 4.

The cylinder has the usual perforated circumferential wall 10 and endwalls l1, 12, plus the Y design partitions 12a, 12b, 12c, suitablyreinforced as by external ribs 13, 'bands 14, and secured together as bywelding W. A gudgeon 15 (Fig. l) is secured to each end wall to supportthe cylinder for rotation in outboard bearings such as 16 (Fig. 2) onthe casing 17.

Front cylinder wall 11 has three openings for access to the respectivecompartments. Each opening is in the form of what is for conveniencetermed a truncated sector, and extends arcuately from a partition. Thedoor 18 fits without undue clearance into the door opening, the doorsheets or plate proper being flush with the surface of cylinder end head11, flanges 18a (Fig. 4) acting as abutment and sealing members alongthe arcuate edges. A small angle member 1812 on the inner face of thedoor around the perimeter provides an inwardly extending flangeeffective to prevent work from slipping out and to reinforce the doorsheet. Radial battens 18c further stiffen the door.

The cylinder door is formed from two cooperating parts which may beregarded as a main door or first part 18 and an auxiliary door or secondpart 20. Door 18 is swingable on. a vertical hinge 19 which is outwardlyoffset from the plane of the door panel to permit the door to be swungoutwardly substantially through an arc of 180 so as to lie flat againstthe outwardly opened door 24 of the casing.

The auxiliary door or flap 20 is hinged to the head plate 11 along theline of the partition, indicated at 12b, Figure 3, and is of appropriatewidth to extend out across the gap between the cylinder and the tub orhousing, when open. In the closed position, door 20 overlies the lowerpart of the main door, resting upon flanges 18a (Fig. 3) and upon across strip 18d. Two latches or bolts 21 on the flap door and two on themain door are used to lock the doors against the tub head. The latchesare simply fiat bar members 21a slidable in a body or housing 21b, a pin21c in the bar fitting through a slot 21d in the housing to limit barmovement. Each bar has a grip part 21c at one end, and the outer end hasan open slot-21f, adapted to cooperate with a stud 22 and nut 23. Eachstud has a base 22a, (Fig. 4) by which it is secured to the head plate11. In opening the door, the nuts are slacked off by partiallyunscrewing them and the bolt bars retracted. The nuts need not beremoved, the door and latch clearing them by a slight margin, the doorflange being notched if necessary, as at N. The locking arrangement issimple, with no springs or other parts to become fouled with lint orother deposits. Primarily it provides a very secure closure to withstandthe heavy pounding and pressure of the large work load.

The tub, or casing, door 24, which will preferably be similar in shapebut somewhat larger than the cylinder doors, is vertically hinged, as at24a. When it has been opened and one of the cylinder doors has beenregistered or spotted, the bolts are released, the flap door 20 loweredand the main door opened. The compartment being thus extensively exposeddown to its floor level, unloading is easily done, any part of the workload at the left tending to slide down to the most accessible position.

What is claimed is:

1. Cylinder door closure means for a washer of the type having acylinder rotatable on a horizontal axis in a fixed casing, said cylinderhaving peripherally spaced partitions extending longitudinally in planesconverging towards and coincident with the axis of rotation whereby todivide the cylinder into a plurality of sector-shaped compartments eachextending inwardly from a cylinder end wall, and wherein one suchcompartment has a door opening of generally sector-shaped contour in itsportion of the said end wall, said door opening having a first and asecond edge diverging radially outwardly towards an outercircumferential door edge, one such radial edge of said door openingbeing substantially coincident with the plane of a bounding partition,and said plane being the plane of article discharge when the cylinder isstopped in unloading position for the last said compartment and saidcasing also having a door opening registrable by cylinder rotation withsaid cylinder door opening, said closure comprising a first door partswingable on first hinge means disposed along said first edge, and asecond door part swingable on second hinge means along said second edge,said second hinge means extending in a horizontal plane when thecylinder is in unloading position, said two door parts cooperating toclose said cylinder door opening when they are moved to door closedposition.

2. Cylinder door closure means as defined in claim 1 wherein said firsthinge means extends in a vertical direction when said cylinder is insaid unloading position.

3. Cylinder door closure means as defined in claim 1 wherein saidcylinder door opening is spaced laterally from the cylinder center line,and extends upwardly from a horizontal axial plane when said cylinder isin said unloading position.

4. Cylinder door closure means as defined in claim 1 wherein a portionof said second door part overlaps and securely holds said first doorpart when both said door parts are moved to closed position.

5. Cylinder door closure means as defined in claim 1 wherein said firstdoor part is swingable outwardly through said casing door opening whenthe cylinder is in unloading position, and wherein said second door partis swingable outwardly to a substantially horizontal position, the freeswinging edge being supportable on the lower edge of the open casingdoorway likewise when said cylinder is in unloading position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS923,971 Hey June 8, 1909 962,887 Bolger June 28, 1910 1,307.919 MulliganJune 24, 1919 1,660,808 Olney Feb. 28, 1828 2,144,157 Jorgeson Jan. 17,1939 2,674,869 Shields Apr. 13, 1954

